1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to credit cards or debit cards (bank cards), and more particularly to a method and system for reducing the number of physical bank cards that an individual needs to carry in order to access many different credit card accounts, and an automated system for applying for and issuing bank cards online via the Internet.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years there has been a proliferation of credit cards and credit card users. Not only are there more credit card companies, but it has generally become easier to acquire credit cards. In addition to the all-purpose credit cards, such as American Express(trademark), Visa(trademark), Mastercard(trademark) and Discover(trademark), there is now available a wide variety of special purpose credit cards such as gas-station credit cards, dining cards, grocery cards, etc. Many individuals even have multiple accounts with one or more of these credit card companies, and often a person will have both personal and business credit cards. Additionally, debit cards have become popular which are similar to credit cards but, instead of accumulating charges on a conventional credit card account, these debit cards are used to directly access a bank account (e.g., checking or savings account) which currently has money accessible and simply withdraws the debited amount from the bank account.
As a result of this proliferation of bank cards, individuals frequently find themselves owning or using so many cards that it creates several problems, especially in carrying around the cards physically, locating a particular card for use, and with damage issues in case of loss. Most bank cards issued today have some information encoded on a magnetic stripe, at least the account number for that credit or debit account. Other information on the face of the card includes the account holder""s name, the expiration date of that specific card, and oftentimes an additional verification code (typically four digits). This information is usually embossed into the card, but may be printed. Banks cards also often include anti-counterfeit measures such as a holographic image embedded in the card. Since a bank card has the owner""s name (or other personal information) in an easily readable format, its loss subjects the owner to possible identity theft. At the very least, it is likely that a misplaced or stolen card will be used to access the credit/debit account, and while there are laws limiting such losses of the owner, the potential harm is still troublesome. Moreover, when a card is lost, a new card must be issued by the bank or credit company, entailing a lengthy wait.
Currently there are no adequate solutions to alleviate these problems. Although the owner can keep the cards somewhere safe, e.g., in a lock box or other secured location, this approach makes the cards inaccessible for day-to-day use. Most bank cards have dimensions of about 85 mmxc3x9755 mmxc3x971 mm, so a sizeable collection of these cards takes up significant space when carried about. Active adults who regularly carry around other items such as identification cards (driver""s licenses), membership cards, money, photos, etc., have too many things in their purse or wallet, and end up fumbling around to find a desired card.
Many credit cards companies have simplified the process of applying for credit cards using electronic commerce, i.e., online via the Internet. Although such an approach allows near-immediate approval of a new credit or debit card account, it still results in the issuance of additional physical cards and, again, there is a lengthy wait before the card will arrive in the mail.
Credit card systems have been devised which simplify some aspects of bank card usage, but these systems do not fully address the above-mentioned problems. For example, European Patent No. 1,265,200 discloses a credit card system which provides additional limited use credit card numbers and/or cards, e.g., single-use cards. The credit card system finds application in xe2x80x9ccard remotexe2x80x9d transactions such as via a phone or the Internet, as well as xe2x80x9ccard presentxe2x80x9d transactions. It also conveniently ties all of the cards to one company but, in doing so, fails to deal with existing cards possessed by a user. That system also results in the issuance of more physical cards.
In European Patent No. 1,161,060, a mobile communication terminal is used to write credit card contract information on a retractable card. The magnetic writer can also delete such credit card contract information from the card. A user interface allows the owner to perform various input operations using a keypad and view information using a liquid crystal display (LCD) panel. The user must carry the mobile communication terminal on his or her person so that the credit card contract information can be read by credit authentication terminals established at merchants or cash dispensers.
In PCT Publication No. WO 02/035435, a system is described for xe2x80x9cinstantlyxe2x80x9d issuing a credit card. An individual applies for the credit card at a remote dispensing module, i.e., vending machine, and a real-time decision platform is used to decide whether to approve or decline the application. A security deposit may be required and is accepted at the vending machine. Once approved, the vending machine immediately dispenses the credit card with the appropriate information thereon. This system still requires the individual to carry around multiple bank cards for different credit or debit accounts.
In light of the foregoing drawbacks and limitations, it would be desirable to devise an improved system for managing bank cards which could significantly reduce or minimize the number of credit cards that a user must carry. It would be further advantageous if the system could reduce or eliminate any harm from loss or theft of a card. Such a system would be additionally beneficial if it allowed for the issuance of a new card (i.e., a new account) without any wait time so that the card is ready to use immediately.
It is therefore one object of the present invention to provide in improved system for managing multiple credit and/or debit cards.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a method that reduces the number of bank cards that must be carried by an individual.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide an automated system for applying for a credit card which allows the immediate issuance of a new card.
The foregoing objects are achieved in a method of creating a bank card for monetary transactions, generally comprising the steps of storing information associated with a plurality of bank card accounts in a portable card access device, electronically authenticating a user of the bank card accounts, selecting a particular one of the bank card accounts for usage, encoding information for the selected bank card account in machine-readable form on a separate card substrate (a xe2x80x9cuniversalxe2x80x9d credit card), and releasing the card substrate from the card access device after encoding the information. Bank card account information can be stored by inserting an existing bank card into the access device and reading the bank card account information from the existing bank card, or by manually entering the information using a keypad of the card access device, or by downloading the information from a computer directly to the card access device. The authentication may be performed using an optical fingerprint scanner. Encoding may be accomplished by magnetically writing the information for the selected bank card account on a magnetic stripe of the universal credit card. After use, the universal credit card is re-inserted into the card access device and the previously selected bank card account information is erased.
The universal credit card system may advantageously be used in conjunction with a credit card application automation system which can issue a new bank card with practically no wait time. The user of the system enters application information into a local computer, which transmits the user application information to a host server via the Internet. Once approved, the host server sends new bank card account information to the local computer, and the local computer can immediately download the information into the card access device, which then generates a universal credit card having the new bank card account information. The application information may be sent to a third-party company which has the user""s profile and applies for a new bank card account on behalf of the user. The computer can further maintain a database of information for multiple bank card accounts including the new bank card account information, and interface with other programs residing on the computer for credit card management. The computer may also be used to program the card access device.
The above as well as additional objectives, features, and advantages of the present invention will become apparent in the following detailed written description.